THEY SAY: “Why spend money
on NASA or space exploration when there is so much need here?” WE SAY:“4.5 times more
is spent on Food Stamps & 59 times more is spent providing other goods
& services to the needy compared to the entire NASA agency budget.” Twice as much is spent on non-military foreign aid as NASA.For those of you who still need an answer, we say go ask
anybody from other countries around the world, “When
was America greatest; when it
landed on the moon in 1969 or when it spent $1 Trillion
on its needy just in 2014?”
The entire Apollo moon program cost $109 Billion (in today’s money) spread out over 10 years.

While the American moon program
is a source of great pride to those still in the space program, it is
absolutely embarrassing
that our astronauts must hitch rides into orbit from our former moon program
rival. It seems incredulous that a space
program that was championed by two democratic presidents in the ‘60’s has
fallen to its lowest point by a democratic president 40 years later.
We are not advocating
another government-ran moon program because Congress, NASA, and its contractors
have gotten very smart at delaying the program with cost over-runs until
$billions are wasted. Instead, we wish
to commercialize space by a method of establishing guarantee aerospace markets and
utilizing competitive,
firm, fixed contracts that we
refer to as “Space
Billets”.
In the past,

NASA
determined by which method a mission was accomplished

NASA
designed the launch vehicles,

NASAbuilt
the manufacturing, development, and launch facilities,

NASAperformed
all the development work on new technologies, and

NASA
provided Cost-Plus contracts to contractors to provide the labor to build and
launch the rockets. The major aerospace
contractors didn’t have any “skin in the game” other than to provide labor and
collect up to 9% profit on every dollar they convinced NASA to spend.

Rather than cut or eliminate the space program, or punish
NASA by cutting its funding, we need to change how NASA works.WE SAY:Congress
and NASA should set bold goals with long-term, guaranteed markets and let aerospace
companies determine how to accomplish those goals.
Congress and NASA should set
bold goals, such as sending 200 astronauts to the moon over the next 10 years
and sending hundreds of astronauts and space tourists to several space hotels
for 500 to 2,500 man-weeks per year, and let private enterprise determine how
to accomplish those goals. WE SAY: Congress and NASA
shouldn’t be in the business of designing and developing rockets; they should
only be involved with determining where we are going to
explore, how
many missions or people are going, and what are we going
to do once we get there.What are Space
Billets and Why are They so Special?
We advocate the use of Space
Billets instead of Cost-Plus Contracts.
Space Billets are firm, fixed contracts that NASA should utilize in
conjunction with establishing guaranteed flight rates.

A Space Billet is a firm, fixed pay-upon-completion contract that will
replace the current cost plus fixed fee
contract instrument that NASA usually utilizes.

The Space Billet plan guarantees a market rate
over a long time so businesses can make a commercial business case and obtain
investment funding.

We propose a market rate of 150 to 350 Space
Billets per year - $3B to $7B per year.

Liquid Oxygen (LOX) will make up 70% of Space
Billets for payloads transported beyond Low Earth Orbit, i.e., the moon or
geostationary orbit.

Space Billets takes the design and development
of launch vehicles, lunar landers, and other equipment out of the hands of NASA
and the politicians (because NASA simply sets a goal of delivering astronauts
to the moon, not how to accomplish that goal) and places it in the hands of
businesses, who are going to find the cheapest method of accomplishing those
different tasks.

Space Billets will allow ANY commercial American company
to deliver goods and astronauts not only to low earth orbit, but to the moon
and beyond.

Space Billets doesn’t develop and spend nearly
$3 Billion per year just to maintain
an expensive space station just for a few astronauts, instead it guarantees
that at least 52 visitors will spend 10 weeks at a commercial space hotelper
year for the next 5 years if a commercial company wants to provide one or
more to NASA’s specifications.

Space Billets doesn’t develop a vehicle to land
on the moon, but instead it guarantees a market to transport at least 20
visitors to
the moon's surface (and back!) over 5 missions per year
for 5 years if a commercial company wants to provide those services.

Space Billets doesn’t develop a rocket to put
things into orbit, but instead it provides a guaranteed market of 150 to 350
missions per year for 5 years at a fixed, low price that can be used by the
government or purchased by private companies.

We think there is a major opportunity for America to
retake the lead in space and turn space into a viable commercial enterprise via
the use of Space Billets. Within 10
years, we think it would be possible for people to travel to beyond the moon. Within 25 years, we think commercial space
tourism and lunar mining operations will nearly make NASA obsolete for near
earth operations and at the same time take the politics out of the space
program. Here’s how it would work:Over a 10 year period, $35.6B (1,780 Space Billets) would accomplish the following:

$ 4,300M: Remove ALL (~2,150) large space debris from orbit 1 mission/day for 8.6 years

$ 4,870M: 730 astronauts and Gov. tourists transferred to LEO

$10,400M: House 520 Astronauts and Gov. tourists in a space hotel for 10 weeks each

If so desired, a further investment of $18.5B would transport an additional 2,770 astronauts to LEO for a total of 3,500 visitors to LEO over 10 years. (Original Space Shuttle Concept: 7 astronauts x 50 missions/year x 10 years). A total investment of $54.1B over 10 years.In like manner, a further investment of $5B per year for 10 years in Space Billets could be utilized to:• $50,880M: House 210 astronauts in floating space stations on Venus• $242.3M per astronaut at Venus
Other than the probes
and astronauts, NASA doesn’t provide anything, the commercial companies perform
all of the hardware development, vehicle processing, and launch operations.
We think that enough people
will be interested in going to a space hotel that research conducted by NASA
will play a minor role in the operation of the hotel; why send a NASA astronaut
to conduct an experiment in space for you when you can go yourself. We think the American public will demand a
much greater increase in funding the space program after we have established a
space hotel and space tourists have a chance of landing on the moon or even
Mars.
Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, as you
can see we have not stopped dreaming about the future; we have merely put our
dreams on hold until we can be given the opportunity to live them. In 2008, Candidate Obama stated that he would
take money appropriated to NASA and give it to education[i];
unfortunately, too many people in the space community didn’t believe him.DOWNLOAD OUR RECENT PRESENTATION HERE ON SPACE BILLETS

DOWNLOAD THE BOOK FOR FREE ON THE HOME PAGE TO FIND OUT MORE!Several members of ﻿theUSAParty.com﻿ have been involved in the US Space Program for many years. We invite you to visit the website of our companion organization that is chartered by NASA: The Space Propulsion Synergy Team